Tag Archives: McNabb

In what amounted to a disaster of a game, the Philadelphia Eagles lose at home to the Washington Redskins. Donovan McNabb’s homecoming was not what anyone predicted, with more Eagles players going down with concussions and broken bones, more poor officiating, some laughable coaching and penalties all adding up to a poor Eagles showing in front of a worldwide audience. McNabb performed badly, but it was the Redskins running game that won the game. Eagles latest starting quarterback, Michael Vick, went down with a rib cartilage injury, and Kevin Kolb came in off the bench. In what was arguably the game-losing moments, Head Coach Andy Reid flubbed clock management and play calling before the half, which resulted in a Field Goal instead of a potential touchdown. Reid’s ultimate explanation for the decisions was, “I goofed.”

What we discussed:

We start off with addressing Andy Reid’s debacle of clock management… “I goofed”

We take a look at the next couple of weeks in the schedule

The injuries continue to add up for the team

Our expectations of the team as this being a rebuilding year are now back in line

We talk about the tailgate this week with Todd flying in and also listener Brian from Colorado came and hung out with us

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And so it’s almost here. Week 4. Donovan McNabb’s return to Philly. Will he get cheered? Will he get booed? If I’m honest, as long as he’s on the losing team I don’t really care although a good reception would be the classy thing to do. And then boo the living daylights out of him as he lines up behind that awful O-line!

The McNabb era was extremely successful for the Eagles, but my overriding memory of #5 is his failure to win the big games. It was fantastic to win game after game during the regular season and cruise into post season but surely, given all those opportunities, it wasn’t too much to expect ONE Superbowl win?! By the end of last season I was ready for change, especially after the two losses to Dallas. McNabb managed to exorcise that demon right away in Washington with a week 1 win over Jerry Jones’ blue-starred circus, but there was nothing much on that game, certainly not a run at the post season. Now McNabb faces the Eagles at The Linc and he must want this game more than any other between now and week 17. He must be thinking about it 24/7, piling on the pressure in his mind. Wanting a win so badly. Hoping and praying that he doesn’t choke. Again. He must be running through scenarios in his head, imagining the cheers or the jeers from the Philly fans. He’ll say all the right things, that it’s “just another game”, but human nature dictates that the thoughts will run through his head all week – if they haven’t done all summer. Pressure.

And what about Andy Reid? Is his decision to trade McNabb within the division about to be vindicated or thrown back squarely in his face? Is this the game that could finally silence the fans who criticised the move or will it give them more ammo to throw at the Head Coach? Both McNabb and Reid are claiming that this is just another game, but is it? Really? Could it ever be “just another game” given the circumstances? So many questions will be answered on Sunday.

As for the game itself, I can’t wait. Yes, I want to see McNabb lose. Yes, I want to see the Eagles stomp all over a division rival. But most of all, I want to see more of Mike Vick! I can’t remember ever being so excited about an Eagles team and much of it comes down to the incredible performances from Vick. I admired his elusive scrambling abilities when he was at Atlanta, but all along I knew that he didn’t quite have the consistency and all-round game that he needed to be a great quarterback. And then came Vick 2.0. He’s changed the way he plays the game, bringing in far better passing, ball security and a more considered approach to his drives. When he played in Atlanta, I almost felt that no plays were ever called and he simply did whatever he felt like. A huge amount of credit must go to Vick for the transformation, but also the coaching staff who have obviously worked hard with him throughout the summer to create this new superstar in the making. If ever there’s a textbook written about how to take a second chance, Mike Vick will be on the first page. And his view of Sunday? “Just another game”.

I must also mention Kevin Kolb. He would have known that there’d be cameras trained on him throughout the Jacksonville Jaguars game and he played his part faultlessly, but I hope that he didn’t have to put on too much of an act. He looked dangerously lost in week 1 and his lack of movement behind the O-line meant that an injury was bound to happen sooner or later, especially with the loss of Jamaal Jackson too. Kolb will know precisely his own weaknesses and now has time to work on them so that he can make the most of his next opportunity – though with Vick taking so many hits, it might not necessarily be as far away as he’s anticipating. If Kolb needs any pointers about taking second chances, the current starting quarterback should be able to help out.

So what do I want from the big showdown on Sunday?

An Eagles win.

Another exciting performance from Mike Vick and the Offense.

Dominant Defense.

I want to see McNabb fall short of what was needed to win the big game. I want to see the failure to convert 3rd downs, the horrible throws into the ground, the 6 yard passes when he needs 8. I want absolute proof that Andy Reid was right to trade McNabb when he did, and to where he did.

What do I not want to see?

Injuries.

The Eagles secondary being picked apart.

McNabb celebrating a win at the Linc with another team.

That stupid air guitar!

I’m nervously excited. The game is being shown on TV in the UK so let’s put on a show!

Just a few hours before we were scheduled to sit down and record this episode, the Philadelphia Eagles fan’s world erupted with the news that Head Coach Andy Reid would make Michael Vick the new starting quarterback, leaving franchise quarterback Kevin Kolb to ride it out on the bench. Not 24 hours after Reid said that Kolb was the starter after recovering from his Week 1 concussion, the dramatic announcement took place. We discuss this issue from as many angles as we can see, sometimes rationally, often not, as we try to make sense of the decision. We break down Reid’s press conference, where the concerns are moving forward, and the excitement of this team.

We also talk throughout the show about the win against the Detroit Lions this weekend, the upcoming Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Redskins games, wide receiver Hank Baskett getting cut to make room on the roster, and of course the Dallas Cowboys starting off their season 0-2.

Two Preseason weeks down with a win and a loss. We have seen our starters play essentially three quarters of football so far, the coaches holding back their tricks and some shuffling in the lineup. Our first team Offense has yet to score a touchdown, and we have seen plenty of rust as we do every year by this time. The third game is only a few days away, and we will see more of the starters for most of the game. Shortly after, the team gets cut to 75 players.

The team is definitely faster, the Offense is having struggles as we would expect from a revamped roster and new leader, the Defense looks better than anticipated and now we have two rookies in starting positions (Brandon Graham and Nate Allen). Joselio Hansen is probably on the bubble, and we somehow get back on the topic of Donovan McNabb again.

We read off an email from Dennis in Gettysburg, then address the rumors brewing about the Vikings looking for a trade with a few teams, including the Eagles. The last thing we talked about was the potential for an 18-game season next year, and some of the ramifications that comes with that.

One last thing! We now have an App in the iTunes App Store for everyone with an Apple iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad! This direct link is here – http://bit.ly/EFC-App

So check out our App, and throw us a rating in the App Store or on the podcast itself in iTunes to help spread the EaglesFanCast love. We really appreciate it.

Training Camp for the Philadelphia Eagles is well under way in Lehigh, PA, and our Birds have their first preseason football game this Friday. The Jacksonville Jaguars travel to Philadelphia where we all get to see the new team on the field for the first time. There is much excitement building for this season, and reports are racing out of camp about the players, position changes, a flurry of injuries, and status updates.

This week we mainly talk about this building excitement and a few of the things that we have seen and hope to see moving forward. We also talk about the toughness of the Eagles camp and how we like what we see building in Kolb’s instincts so far.